“There’s nothing more painful than losing the f—— game against Bruce Chen once again,” Guillen spat. “F—— pathetic. [We had] no f—— energy. We just go through the motions. We take the day off today instead of tomorrow.”

“If we go to Cleveland [beginning on Friday] and play the way we did in Kansas City, it’s going to be a f—— long-ass, God—— July. Nothing against Bruce Chen, I have a lot of respect for this kid. But our approach at the plate, that’s not a good club out there. F— it. I’m tired of protecting people … I take my s— back, what I said in Detroit. I take it back. This thing about ‘one day at a time.’ One day we’re good, three days we’re bad. We don’t have energy in the dugout. [We had a] horses— approach at the plate for the 90th time.”

“F—. If we go to Cleveland the way we go [in Kansas City], good luck. We’re wasting our money on this club if we go to Cleveland the way we were here,” Guillen said. “That’s the team we’ve had all year long—that’s the club. [People think] I talk s— because I ‘have’ to talk s—. No, I don’t. I talk s— because of what I see. All I see is very bad. Nothing against Chen, nothing against the Kansas City pitching staff—they’re good. They’ve got a young ballclub.

“But the way we go about our business here [was] horses—. [The team] can say whatever they want to say. If we go to Cleveland that way, and [then] we’ve got to play New York, Boston and Detroit? Good luck.”

[Adam] Dunn was not only benched as the Kansas City Royals went with a left-handed starter for the second consecutive night, manager Ozzie Guillen is now saying that Dunn is dealing with a sore knee. Guillen did not know what knee was ailing his struggling slugger.

The news would seem to indicate the White Sox might try to angle for a disabled list stint with Dunn, which could open the door to recall Dayan Viciedo from Triple-A Charlotte. Guillen, though, told reporters in Kansas City on Wednesday that he intends on using Dunn in Friday’s series opener at Cleveland. The club has a day of Thursday.

… When I asked Kenny Williams on June 22 what it will take to bring up his prized prospect he said, “Until I get the feeling from the coaching staff that he is in fact needed and they believe that the mix that they are currently sending out there isn’t getting the job done.”

Thinking about benching your lefty power-hitter for two straight games in a heated divisional race at a pivotal stretch of the season kind of answers that question.

But Williams also said that he might not wait for Guillen and the coaching staff to make the call on Viciedo.

“If there ever comes a time where I feel strongly enough about making a move of that ilk, then I’ll call them aside and we’ll have a little stronger dialogue, and I’ll see if I can influence [them] one way or another,” Williams said. …

July 15, 2011

The Problem: Left field. Juan Pierre has been hitting of late, but all that means is that his season average is up to a whopping .269/.330/.314. He also has the sudden and mysterious defensive problems that have changed him from a decent little left fielder with a horrible arm to a bad left fielder with a horrible arm.

The Solution:Dayan Viciedo. The 22-year-old Cuban is having a breakout year at Triple-A Charlotte, hitting .325/.374/.535 in 87 games. Possessing some of the best bat speed in the minors, he has the ability to hit for both average and power, and he’s made tremendous strides in his approach. Trust me, his 25 walks over 342 at-bats might not look like much, but it actually represents a massive step forward. He’s not better defensively than Pierre; at 5-foot-11 and 230 pounds he’s more of a round mound of bat pound (sorry, Charles Barkley), but he could add much-needed life to a White Sox lineup that currently scares opponents with just two players—Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin.

… This year Rios has played like one of the worst players in baseball. We know he’s not one of the worst, at least in terms of talent. He’s put it on display before. But it’s not as though this is just a half-season slump that we can expect to correct itself. In the last calendar year Rios has hit .233/.282/.346, which amounts to a .277 wOBA. That ranks 137th out of the 140 qualified players. He has produced just 0.2 WAR in that time as well, which ranks 134th. Given this poor year-long performance, it’s tough to expect an improvement from Rios in the second half.

The problem extends even if we go back two calendar years. In that span Rios has hit .251/.299/.395, a .305 wOBA, and has been worth 2.6 WAR. That ranks 114th out of 133 qualified players. If we take that back even another year, which would include Rios’s worthwhile 2008 season — and give us the magical three-year sample for UZR — he has produced 6.5 WAR, which ranks 89th out of 124. His batting runs above average in the last three years is -10.3, which ranks 109th out of 124. Any way you look at it, his numbers are a far cry from the 8.6 WAR (29th out of 151) he produced from 2006 through 2007. …

July 11, 2011

… “Look, he’s done absolutely marvelously,” Hahn said. “In fact, he’s even done better in the last three or four weeks since this sort of buzz for people wanting him up here began. He’s actually shown a little more plate discipline in the past few weeks. He’s gotten even better as a defender and an outfielder.“

When he gets here we do think he’s going to be an impact guy. That being said, he is 22 years old. If he had grown up in the states, he’d be a year out of the draft, in all probability. To expect that a 22-year-old kid would come up here and, you know, essentially save the season or turn around the offense single handily, is an awful lot to put on him.”

Cuban defector signed to $ 10 million contract in 2008. Hitting .322/.364/.528 with 15 homers, 20 walks, 65 strikeouts in 335 at-bats for Triple-A Charlotte. Power to all fields, should produce a solid batting average with plenty of homers despite so-so strike zone judgment. Poor defender at any position and likely a born DH, but he’ll hit. Age 22. Major League ETA: 2011.

“I might lose some respect from the players. People believe in Juan. They know he’s our leader. I’m not afraid to bench a guy that’s not producing, as long as I have something else better or equal. But I think he plays the game right. He works. A lot of people look up to him. Our players love him.”
-White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen on why he does not plan to bench outfielder Juan Pierre.

“I will not and have not put one player on this team that the coaches and Ozzie haven’t had input in and haven’t discussed because they know—and I know this better and mostly because I’ve been in this dugout—they know the pulse. They know whether there’s cohesiveness, lack of cohesiveness, fight or non-fight.”
-White Sox general manager Kenny Williams.

“I always say it’s about winning; I don’t care about feelings. But you have to be careful. You have to be careful how you treat your players, how your players are going to respond. If I do that to Juan, well, I never did it to anybody else. A lot of people have struggled, and I say, ‘I’m not going to bench you.'”
–Guillen.

“Joey just talked to Viciedo yesterday and I say someone tell Viciedo I don’t hate him because I don’t have space for him here.”
–Guillen on bench coach Joey Cora’s discussion with Triple-A IF/OF Dayan Viciedo.

“I wish I had 25 Juan Pierres, with all due respect to Konerko, Rios, Dunn. If you ever manage Juan Pierre, you appreciate the way this kid goes about his business. Maybe he’ll be 0-for-100 in the next 20 games. I don’t care. He’s playing.”
–Guillen.

“I appreciate Ozzie saying he has my back, but I’ve been benched before, I’ve been booed, I’ve batted ninth, I’ve dropped balls—I’ve done all this stuff in my career. So this stuff doesn’t shake me when I do get the boos or the media talk bad about me. I’m used to it.”
–Juan Pierre. (Rick Morrissey, Chicago Sun-Times)

July 4, 2011

[Dayan] Viciedo is a big guy at 5-11, 230. A right-handed hitter, he has outstanding raw power and has tapped into his physical strength more effectively over the last year. He crushes fastballs and has power to all fields, giving him a good chance to hit for a high average. He has made progress improving his reads on breaking pitches, but while his plate discipline is still a weakness, he’s shown the willingness to make adjustments and learn from his mistakes. Given his age, his upside is huge. …

“Right now I don’t think is the time,” Guillen said. “I don’t have space for [Viciedo] here, and I think we’re fine with what we have. Hopefully, we get [John] Danks back quickly, then we can make our pitching staff much stronger.

“Kenny asked me who’s available, what I have, what I need. What I need, we don’t have it. I wish I had another [Sergio] Santos, but I don’t have it.”